


He Shuts the Mouths of Lions

by WishingStar



Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Adventure, Gen, Post-Captain America: The Winter Soldier, steve/bucky reunion fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-27
Updated: 2016-03-27
Packaged: 2018-05-29 08:34:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,242
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6367039
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WishingStar/pseuds/WishingStar
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Buried halfway through a log of personnel and equipment transfers, they'd found the reason Natasha had sent them the file—and the reason she'd sent it to Sam instead of Steve directly, with instructions for Sam to do as he thought best.</p><p><i>Asset recovered,</i> it had said.</p><p>So when they'd identified the boarded-up warehouse as Hydra property, yeah, Steve had gone in without waiting for backup.</p><p>
  <i>(In which Steve gets himself captured by Hydra and comes face-to-face with the Winter Soldier, again.)</i>
</p>
            </blockquote>





	He Shuts the Mouths of Lions

**Author's Note:**

> Just wanted to slip this in before the "Steve/Bucky reunion" playground closes for canon renovations.

Steve woke up groggy, into a nightmare that wasn't his worst but definitely made the top ten: strapped to a table in a dimly-lit room, next to a tray of sharp-edged instruments without readily identifiable purposes, with only the fuzziest recollection of how he'd gotten there. Carelessly, he suspected, searching his memory for details. Sure enough—he'd tried to storm the place on a hunch, hadn't he, without waiting for Sam or Sharon to back him up. Why—

The report.

( _That_ had been his worst nightmare, incidentally.)

They were in Pittsburgh, he and Sam and Sharon Carter, chasing rumors of a man with a metal arm. But the trail had gone cold by the time they arrived, and the past two weeks had yielded no further leads. Steve had fretted while Sharon had run down what turned out to be a series of dead ends, and finally Sam had said something unpalatable about _preparing for a worst-case scenario_ —and when Steve had asked why he would suggest such a thing, he'd shown Steve the file Natasha had sent.

One of Fury's people (SHIELD in all but name) had caught a Hydra technician in a careless moment, it seemed, and snagged a report encrypted with a compromised key. Fury called it a "Hydra state-of-the-union," and alternatively a "jackpot;" it referenced three hithero-unknown Hydra strongholds—which appeared to be jockeying for position as the next preeminent head—as well as numerous smaller bases, lists of materiel and even names.

Buried halfway through a log of equipment transfers, they found the reason Natasha had sent them the file—and the reason she'd sent it to Sam instead of Steve directly, with instructions for Sam to do as he thought best.

 _Asset recovered,_ it had said.

No description. It could have meant any asset. Anything distinct enough to warrant a capital letter and no further identification. Located at a set of geographical coordinates less than ten miles from Bucky's last confirmed location. Timestamped sixteen hours after that last sighting.

So when they'd identified the boarded-up warehouse as Hydra property, yeah, Steve had gone in without waiting for backup.

It was probably incredibly selfish to hope that the whole "Hydra state-of-the-union" had been an elaborate trap.

"Dr. Higgs, he's awake." A young man's voice, somewhere behind him. Steve tested the straps around his wrists; nothing budged.

"Stand by. You know the drill." A woman, to his left. Steve turned his head just in time to get a penlight shone directly in his eyes.

"You might not be able to see it from your angle, but my associate has a loaded Glock pointed at the top of your head. I wouldn't try anything." She gripped his chin and tilted it to the side, then grunted. "Healed up already. No concussion. Keep the gun on him." Then she went back to whatever she'd been doing off to his left.

Steve missed the days when Hydra underestimated him.

They'd probably gotten a more accurate grasp of his abilities from studying Bucky.

Steve couldn't lie quietly with that thought in his head.

"What are you going to do with me?" He wanted to ask _what have you done with the Winter Soldier,_ but if he'd learned one thing from working with Natasha, it was to not let the enemy know what information you wanted, exactly. Get them talking, that was the first step.

"Oh, I'd hate to spoil the surprise, Captain," Dr. Higgs replied, leaving Steve to wish he'd also picked up Natasha's ability to read when a person was bluffing. He didn't _think_ they'd expected him, or that he'd been out long enough for them to come up with a detailed plan. He would probably be held here until someone higher-ranking could be briefed and make a call. Which meant—

"What is that?" Higgs looked up sharply, sounding concerned. She strode across the room to a computer station, angled so Steve couldn't see the monitor or keyboard, and tapped a few keys. "Rosslyn, why is the front gate down?"

A tinny voice responded, "Situation normal, doctor. Uh, mostly. There's, uh... there's someone here. Says he has unfinished business with Captain America."

"Surely you didn't just let someone through the gate on nothing but his own say-so. Surely you didn't do that."

"No, ma'am. He's Hydra. He's definitely Hydra."

"How do you know?"

"You'd better come see for yourself. Uh... wait, never mind, he's coming to you."

"I want backup in here, armed and ready," Higgs snapped. Steve caught her muttering something about shoddy discipline as she walked past him, then "Watch the prisoner, but don't get too close." Then a door clicked shut.

"Lie back down," said the agent behind him, when he tried raising his head for a better look at his surroundings. Two new agents, plus the one behind him, all with weapons raised. Dammit, they were _over_ estimating him. Steve let his head drop, wondering if Sam had somehow managed to impersonate a Hydra agent. It didn't seem likely.

Who from Hydra had unfinished business with him? Someone he'd known at SHIELD? He hoped not. But if Zola had survived in yet another form, he was going to—

"—respect the Baron's concern, but you'll find this facility more than equipped to hold him," came Higgs' voice over the creak of the door as it re-opened. A pause. Then, "What are you all gaping at?"

Steve heard the clack of heels snapping to attention. "Hail Hydra!" chanted a smattering of voices.

"Hail Hydra," a new voice replied, sounding bored, and Steve's heart slammed into the back of his mouth and stuck there, because he knew that voice. Of course he did. Even slanted by a faint Russian accent, of course he knew it.

"I've no doubt you're equipped to hold him." Bucky's voice grew closer. "But the Baron wishes to take no chances with a prisoner of such, shall we say, strategic interest. You'll be amply rewarded for acquiring him, let me assure you. And here he is."

Bucky—in full tac gear, metal arm gleaming—stepped into Steve's field of vision. Steve's breath caught. He'd never seen that much flat hate in anyone's eyes, much less in someone who had once called him a friend.

"Bucky, listen. This isn't you. Try to remember—"

"You've searched him for weapons, I hope? That shield might be his favorite, but don't let the bulls-eye pattern fool you. He's trained in stealth missions, too. Knives, garrotte, I wouldn't be surprised if—"

"Bucky, please, you don't have to—"

"—if there's a tracker on him somewhere. Are you quite finished, Captain?"

It hurt to look him in the eye, but Steve couldn't look away. Whatever Hydra had done to Bucky this time, he was looking back without the slightest trace of emotion. Even his rage on the helicarrier had been better than this.

"You know who I am," Steve whispered, more prayer than declaration.

"Trust me, Captain, I know _exactly_ who you are. You think Hydra took everything? No, they take away distractions, unnecessary mental noise. But mistakes, like the one I made on the banks of the Potomac? Those I keep. Learn from." One corner of his mouth curled up. "It's why I never make the same mistake twice."

Steve thought he might be sick. "Am I still your mission?"

"Mission parameters have changed. My superiors want you alive. Lucky you." Bucky slid a finger under the strap that tied Steve's ankles to the table, testing its tension. "Are these reinforced?" he asked in a louder voice. "They'd better be, unless you want him standing up and strolling out of here. Mag-cuffs would be better."

"Bucky—"

"Don't test my patience, Captain. It won't end well for you, trust me. Doctor?"

Dr. Higgs rubbed her hands together nervously. "We don't have mag-cuffs, but that's carbon nanofiber weave. It can hold—ah—well, we know it can hold someone of similar strength."

Bucky nodded. "It'll work for now. But we'll need to keep eyes on him, just in case. Funny how the tables turn, isn't it?" His voice turned musing, and Steve realized he was coming to stand at the head of the table. Looking Steve in the eye again. "I understand you barged in here hell-bent on capturing _me_. Don't bother denying it; I have my sources. And now here we are." His fingertips traced down Steve's left arm to the wrist, curling briefly around where the carbon nano-whatever-it-was dug into his skin.

He left something behind. Something small and rounded, like the back of a brass tack, stuck to the inside of the scant inch of strap where it stretched between Steve's wrist and the slot in the side of the table.

 _Trust me,_ he'd said, hadn't he. Twice.

"What security do you have here?" Bucky asked the doctor, passing behind Steve's head. "This place looks like it's run by a skeleton crew."

"Six agents, ten technicians, all with at least basic firearms training. But you're right, manpower didn't net us Captain America. We have something better."

Bucky passed by Steve's right hand and let his own hand drift outward, not looking or breaking his slow stride. Another small, round nub slid into place, a mirror of the first. Bucky gave a hard smile. "Oh? Please, elaborate."

 _I know exactly who you are._ He'd said that, too.

If Sam or Sharon could hear these thoughts, they'd have Steve's head on a platter. Even Steve recognized the absurd depths of denial to which he was sinking. And yet.

Higgs gestured toward the computer beside her. "Let's just say whoever sets off the proximity alarm is in for a nasty surprise."

"Show me."

Craning his neck, Steve caught a glimpse of Bucky disappearing behind the console.

"Sensors covering all the entrances?"

"Doors and vents. We have no windows."

"Bring up the building schematics."

"Multiple alarms covering each ingress point, here, see? Full redundancy. I developed the system myself; I'd be happy to discuss installing it at other locations, if the Baron is interested. I think you'll find it's more secure than any other—"

"Does this control the alarms?"

"Wait, don't touch—no, no, see, now you've disarmed the whole—what are you—" a thump and a startling _crack_.

Light and sound exploded in the room. Steve flinched inward, away from the searing heat that flared on all sides. The straps pulled apart in charred strands. Steve rolled off the table in time to avoid a burst of gunfire. He saw Bucky duck as well—then tackle the nearest agent, twist his arm, and shoot him with his own gun. Steve scrambled around the table, frantically scanning the room for a weapon he could reach without getting peppered with bullets.

"Steve!"

The whole room seemed to pause—maybe in collective surprise, maybe just in Steve's imagination. He turned. Bucky threw his shield.

_Game on._

They cleared the room in seconds. Bucky paused long enough to punch through the back of the computer console and pull out the hard drive. Steve, catching his breath and growing dimly aware of the painful burns on both his wrists, finally let the situation sink in.

"Bucky," he said, wondering.

Bucky stowed the hard drive somewhere in his vest. "We need to move." He passed Steve. When Steve didn't fall into step, he caught his arm and pulled. "Come on, _move._ " Then they were running.

Bucky didn't slow until they'd left the building, crossed the unkept lawn, and crossed the street. Then he spun, eyes on the Hydra warehouse.

"Bucky," Steve said again.

"What were you doing in there?"

"I thought—they said you'd been recovered. Fury had a file—"

"The transfer log." Bucky brought a hand to his face, then altered course to run it through his hair. "You weren't supposed to see that. Last place I hit was an electronic hub, still had computers running, got me into the system. I knew there's be perimeter security here, thought the best way in would be undercover. Planted that entry in the log to back up my story, then spent a week realizing I didn't have the nerve to walk up to the front the door. Couldn't stomach the thought of being _him_ again." He looked at Steve. A shadow crossed his face—a transient hint of that terrible expression he'd worn inside the base. "You have no idea how much you owe me right now."

"Blank check," Steve agreed, too stupidly relieved to argue.

"Though when you get down to it, I guess I owe you, too."

His last word was partly cut off by the explosion of the Hydra warehouse. Bucky winced. "I thought that might happen. Least there's no one here but Hydra. I had to warn your friends to sit tight. You owe me _so much_."

Steve distantly appreciated that Bucky was keeping these things in mind, because his own mind was still skipping like a scratched record.

"Bucky," he tried once more, gripping his friend's shoulder for emphasis.

Bucky blinked. His mouth twisted with something not entirely unlike fondness. 

"Yeah," he said. "Okay. C'mere." He pulled Steve in by the opposite shoulder, like he expected to get away with a casual one-armed hug. No chance. Steve wrapped both arms around him and held on.

Bucky returned the embrace, awkwardly at first, then with more conviction. "Okay," he murmured, and rested his chin on Steve's shoulder. "Okay, yeah, okay. Steve. It's good to see you, too."


End file.
